Tuesday, 11 October 2011

De De De De Do, De De De De Do, De De De De Do; This Is Romania

Yes, the enthusiasm to write up this rundown thing is still just about there. Trundling ever on then:

There's a track at Number 63 called 'Come Again' sung by a lady called Kamelia. It's rather unremarkable, if competent, fare - certainly not a patch on 'See It In A Boy's Eyes' - but it's definitely good to have her back after her accidentally hilarious appearances on all those panel shows (and, weirdly, The Fairy Jobmother).

'Only You' by Mishelle and Randi (not the one who debunks psychics) rebounds from 14 to 11 and is rather good indeed. It's got the contemporary Romanian, Play & Win sound, yet sounds a lot more like an actual song than the majority of the output of the majority of the 'artistes' utilising it. This is in part due to its comparatively sparse arrangement, but, let's be honest, it's not a hard contrast to achieve when the likes of Alexandra Stan are pretty much bludgeoning you round the head with a saxophone. PRETTY MUCH.

Don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of Romanian videos consist of naught but a pretty girl waltzing around, clad in what can only be described as 'a scanty fashion'. It's none too taxing, and presumably enjoyable if you like That Sort Of Thing, but it does a disservice to the countless great minds working behind the camera. They can do better. When it came to making the video for Crush and Alexandra's 'I Need You More' (this week's Number 19), a director was finally given the opportunity to show the world what they can do. The result is high concept stuff.

Well, that is to say it's impenetrable. Various people, predominantly couples, are shown in a variety of settings (The Club, outside The Club, dancing but not at The Club). Simple enough. But the crux of the thing is that they all hold up some kind of LED flashcard with some nonsense slogan on. "FASHION VICTIM", says one. Another has "∞", the symbol for infinity. Neither have any relevance to the song. All that's really sure is that it's all about having a Good Time, and at the end of the day, isn't that we all et cetera et cetera. (Oh, and the song's not bad, rather lovely in fact, with a slight whiff of 'Canon In D' and a smattering of those Supertramp sounds that David Guetta is so fond of. What an unnecessarily long 'review'.)

And now, the bad news: 'Smiley' remains at Number One for the fourth week. However, the good news: the Radio Killer remix makes 'Dream Girl' slightly more palatable. But only slightly. Something still must be done. People of Romania: the world knows your pain. We're sending help. But first of all, you've got to help yourself. Do whatever you can - hide his CDs in shops, anything. Together we can end this plague.

Perhaps you could even put the above poster in your window. Just a thought. Here's the rather stagnant Top 10:

And Andra had to cancel a gig due to a sprained ankle. Apparently a UK popstar had a similar problem recently but it was barely mentioned and so his or her name is proving rather elusive. Nope. No idea who it was. Shame.